When you give, give from the place of the heart because it is the right thing to do, not the easy thing to do.

A pile of bills and statements - whether paid or not - is a sign that someone is clueless about what's coming in and going out.

If you have a 50 percent match and you get in trouble financially, you can either withdraw money as a loan, or withdraw the 50 percent match. If you take it out, you have to pay taxes on it, but you still come out ahead.

Absolutely pay off credit card debt. If you're not getting a match in your 401(k) and you've got credit card debt, you've got to get yourself out of credit card debt. When you get out of credit card debt, your credit score goes up and interest starts to go down.

Like your home's closets, your financial clutter needs an overhaul every now and again, and the payoff will go far beyond the psychic satisfaction of neatening up.

Absolutely invest in retirement. You can always get a loan to get kids through school. I do not know of any loans to get you through retirement. The markets are seriously low from where they were (even though they've gone up 30 percent recently). Now is the time to be dollar cost averaging; the more money you put in, the more shares you buy. Save for your retirement, people.

The advantage of online banking is that you can pay bills superfast, and your account is automatically credited or debited for each deposit and payment, making it easier to stay on track.